peter
“It was Halloween night. I got radioed to a call so I walked through the hospital and jumped in the elevator. On the next floor, this little boy with a huge bandage over his head got into the elevator with his Mam. He looked at me and asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ I was like, ‘Well, I’m here to check on you! How are you doing?’ He said ‘I’m fine… but I don’t like the fireworks and the bangers. They’re too loud.’ So I said ‘You know what? I’m going to get a big bucket of water and I’m going to collect all the fireworks and put them in it.’ He laughed, and as we walked out of the elevator he asked me my name. I said ‘My name is Eimear!’ And he replied ‘That’s great, now I know two Guards!’ About two weeks later, I was doing nights, and while walking around the hospital I heard a lady say ‘Are you Garda Eimear?’ I said ‘Yes! How can I help?’ She said ‘You probably don’t remember but you met my son a few weeks ago in the elevator and he couldn’t stop talking about you ever since.’ I said ‘Aww! Of course, I remember! How is he doing?’ She got very upset then. She told me they were looking for treatment for him abroad. I felt like I had to do something, to at least acknowledge him and show that I was thinking of him. I wanted to cheer him up. My initial idea was to give him a goodie bag, but when I told a sergeant he suggested that I make him an ‘Honorary Junior Garda’. So a few weeks later, this little fella was going around the hospital in a full custom-made Garda uniform with a hat and a badge. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us. But he taught me a lot about the importance of being nice at all times. That little chat in the elevator had a huge impact; not only on him and his family but also on me. He gave me a reason to become one of the volunteers with Little Blue Heroes.”
This is Eimear, a community Garda at Temple Street, and one of the volunteers of Little Blue Heroes which is a not-for-profit charity. Eimear was nominated and shortlisted in the ‘Dublin Hero’ category, one out of 16 categories for 98FM‘s #BestOfDublin Awards. You can find out more about Little Blue Heroes and vote for your favourite Dubliner in the comments section.